Shipping-tag-making machine.



J. P. KUHNS.

SHIPPING TAG MAKING- MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2, 1903.

1,047,089. Patnted Dec. 10,1912.

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J. P. KUHNS.

SHIPPING TAG MAKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2, 190a.

Patented Dec. 10,1912.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

J.P.KUHNS. SHIPPING TAG MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2, 1903.

Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN P. KUI-INS, 0F DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL TAG COMPANY, OFDAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

Application filed February a, 1903. Serial No. 141,525.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN I. KUHNS, a citizenof the United States, residing at Dayton, county of Montgomery, State ofOM have invented an Improvement in Shippin Tag-Making Machines, of whichthe following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing likeparts.

My invention is a machine for making shipping tags, and has for itsobject a provision not only of means for cutting and printing the tags,but for applying reinforcing strips to the string-receiving holes.

The various advantages and further de: tails of my invention will bepointed out in the course of the following description, reference beinghad to the accompanying draw ings, in which I have shown one embodimentof my invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view ofthe machine; Fi s. 2 and 3 show, in top plan and longitu inal section,the construction of the tag which it is the object of the machine tomake; Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional detail showing in frontelevation the patchapplying mechanism; Fig. 5 shows in side elevationthe operating mechanism for the strip-feeding ahd pasting device; Fig. 6is a view looking toward the right, Fig. 5, parts being in section, andbroken away for clearness of illustration; Fig. 7 is a fragmentarydetail in side elevation of the feeding-mechanism and a portion of theoperating mechanism for printing; Fig. 8 is an end elevation of themachine at the left end, Fig. 1; Fig. 9 shows a portion of the gearingof the machine viewed in top plan, parts being broken away.

One form of tag which this machine is adapted to make is shown in Figs.'2 and 3, Fig. 2 showing eight of these tags to be severed on the dottedlines, from which it will be seen that the tag a has'a string-receivingopening a to which is applied an upper reinforcing patch or piece oftough paper a and a similar under reinforcing patch a the corners" ofthe tag being cut away at (1*, a The reinforcing strips or patches areapplied' to oplposite tags in pairs, as shown clearly in ig. 2, and themeeting corners of four tags are cut or beveled simultaneously bypunching out a preferably'square hole a.

As herein shown, a drive shaft 7) operated by any convenient means, as abandpulley b, carries a bevele I gear b in mesh with a gear b normallyloose on a shaft 6 connected by gears b, b to drive a longitudinal shaft6 whose eccentric b at the forward end of the machine operates thepunching and patch-applying mechanism C,

crank/1, see Fig; 5, for driving the paste-' applying and strip-feedingmechanism D,

while at the opposite end of the machine the shaft 6* has an eccentricZ2 and gearing b and slightly back therefrom I have provided b foroperating the tag-forming and severing mechanism E, the printingmechanism G being operated by links 9 connected to cranks b of a shaft 6provided with a gear I)" for operatin the tag-forming and severdriveshaft 6. he paper web-feeding mechanism H is shown as driven from theshaft 1) by a link it connected to a bell crank it and rod it adjustablein a face plate h on the shaft 6. v

At any convenient point I mount a web roll 70 provided with a web ofsuitable inaterial, herein shown as paper is" having a width of thelength of two tags, as indicated in Fig. 2, said web being passedthrough a friction device or retarding clamp 70 and thence over a bar orledge c constituting part of the frame of the machine, and around atension or registering roll 70 mounted in a sliding hanger 7s", andadjustable by a hand screw is toward and from the machine, the

web passing from this roll over a second ledge or plate 0 alsoconstituting a partof the frame of the machine, and thence in turn tothe feeding mechanism, printing mechanism, and severing mechanism.

The strips of patch paper or reinforce material are carried on a reel 01mounted on a bracket (i above the patch-applying mechanism, one strip 8being delivered to an upper pasting mechanism and the other strip '8'beingdelivered to a lower pastingmechanism, each of these mechanismsbeing similar, hence a description of one suflicing for both.

Viewing Figs. 5 and 6 it will be seen that suitable paste. orglue-holding reservoirs or receptacles d are provided containingpastedelivering and feeding rolls d cooperating with a lower feed rollor drum (i the latter being the width of the strip and the formerslightly narrower, as shown clearly in Fig. 6. The strip passes aroundsaid drum d and is further fed by engagement with the flanges of a rollcl, these several rolls being operated by a train of gears cl, d d, anda ratchet 4 and pawl (Z from levers al and links (Z (Z from the crank orarm 5 The strips are delivered by the..drum (Z and flanges of the drum(Z to channels formed in receiving guides emerging therefrom beneathcutter blocks 0 a mounted on a frame 0 actuated by the eccentric 6before referred to. The upper cutter block 6 is held yieldingly bysprings a so as to act as a stripper for the punches which punch theholes a in the tags. As the paper web passes to the plate 0. the patchstrip is cut off and is pressed down upon the web by the cutter block 0the pressure thereof being sufficient not only to insure proper contactof the patch with the'web, but also to spread the paste or glue over theentire surface of the latter. This is of importance, as it enables me torun the machine rapidly without danger of smearing the parts and foulingthe machine. The gluer-roll (5* applies glue only to the intermediatepart of the patch strip, leaving the edges thereof clean, so that whenthe roll (Z feeds the same forward it does not come in contact with theglue, and when the patch -is pressed down upon the web there is justenough glue thereon to be pressed out to the edges and cement thecntirepatch properly; whereas if the entire patch had been covered withglue the pressure would have spread the glueor paste beyond the patch,interfering with the appearance and proper manufacture of the tags. Thepatch having been placed by the cutter block 0 (which, besides acting ascutter, performs the office of a patch or reinforce applier) .on oneside of the web, the web travels over the registering roll k so as tobring said patch on the under side of the web as the latter 'is fedforward beneath the upper patch applier and cutter, whereupon the upperpatch is be fed at one spee placed in proper alinement directly over theunder patch, and is applied in a similar manner, the two holes beingpunched therein simultaneously with the cutting off and applying of thepatch. 7 v

To permit the proper applying of the patch, I have provided astep-by-step feeding mechanism, shown in Figs. 1 and 7. This feedingmechanism may be, of any suitable kind, but as herein shown it comprisesa spring-pressed upper'roll if and a ratcheted under roll h at theend ofwhose shaft is a ratchet it operated by a pawl k on the end of a slottedarm k operated by the link h, the adjustment of said link in said arm,and of the link h ermitting the paper to d or at another, as requiredfor purposes to be presently described.

The printing mechanism may be of any suitable kind, and accordingly Ihave omitted many of the etails thereof, showing merely sufficient partsto enable my invention to be understood. The chase or type bed 9? isarranged in a plurality of parts, herein shown astwo, 9 g, ink ed byrollers 9 ,g, respectively, said chase or type carrier being raised andlowered by opposite links 9 connected thereto at the ends of a cross-bar9 As herein shown this printing mechanism is depressed once for everytwo feeding movements of the machine.

The severing mechanism and reinforceapplying mechanism must alwaysoperate in unison e., if one operates a certain number of times for agiven length of web, the other must operate the same number of times),as the machine is herein shown as arranged to provide one reinforce onlyfor each tag, and hence a tag must be severed every time a reinforce isapplied; but the feeding mechanism is made capable of feeding the stripforward either once for each.

tag or twice for each tag, according to the kind of printing which isrequired.

If it is desired to print each tag in two colors (one color on the part9 and one color on the part g of the printing press), then the distanceof each feed will be half the width of a tag, so that a tag will firstbe printed by the part g and then will be fed forward twice, equalingthe width of the tag, so that when the press comes down next time saidtag will be printed by the part 9 If it is not desired to print in twocolors, but the mechanism is availed of for the purpose of providing alarge output in one color, rather than a smaller output in two colors,then the parts 9 g, will be set up with duplicate forms of'type matter,and the feeding mechanism will be set to feed the distance of the widthof a tag at each feed, so that two tags will .be printed at onedescent'of the press, and when the press descends the next time the nexttwo tags will be in place to be printed.

If one impression of the printing press is desired to one feed of thefeeding mechanism, a link may be connected from the lever 71 to a stud hon the link g, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 7.

The severing mechanism is mounted on a head 6 and comprises a punch efor making the holes a, said punch having a yieldingly supportedstripper plate 6 a longitudinal severing knife 6 for making theincisions from one hole a to the next, and also cutting the patchestransversely, see Fig. 2, and transverse cutting blades e, 6 The knivese are preferably supported on an auxiliary frame e, and while the restof the severing mechanism is operated by the cam 6 already referred to,and a strap e" therefrom, the frame 6 is operated by a rod @(E and levere pivoted at one end at e an having its other end engage'with a path cama of a cam e driven by the gear 6, already referred to.

The cam 6 it will be noticed, is arranged to rotate once for every fourrotations of the eccentric b and has three similar comparatively shallowdeflections in its cam path and one deeper deflection e, the resultbeing that the lmives e, e are brought down for three cuts a distancewhich will only partially sever the web, but the fourth time the web isentirely severed, the result being that the tags are retained in bunchesof four, for convenience of packing and handling, the four, however,being so nearly severed (as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2) as tobe conveniently separated by hand when required for use.

To permit the machine to print in. two colors or one color, as mentionedabove, or to print slowly or rapidly (according as the printing pressmakes two impressions on each tag or one only), I provide for a changeof web feed as already explained, and also a change of severingmovement, the latter being shown best in Figs. 1 and 9, where it will beseen that the gears 6 b are connected together, and are normally'looseon the shaft 5*, but may be clutched therewith by any convenient handclutch b the gear 6 being splined on the shaft b to rotate therewith,but free to be moved laterally to the right, Fig. 1, and said shaft Z2carrying fast thereon a pinion L in mesh with the gear I) on theshaft-b", these several gears being so proportioned that when the clutchI) is out of engagement with the shaft 11* and the gear b is in meshwith the gear 5, as shown in Fig. 1, the cutting mechanism will bereciprocated twice to once of the printing n echanism, and when theclutch I) is in engagement with its shaft 5*, and the gear 6 is shiftedto the right out of engagement with the gear 6 the cutting mechanism andthe printing mechanism will operate in the same time.

It will be understood that I have shown and described one form merely ofmy mechanism, and that wide variations in details may be resorted towithout departing from' the spirit and scope of the invention.

One aim has been to simplify the mechanism, and with this in view, Ihave 'provided that the'reinforcing strips or patches shall be pushedinto place, instead of feeding them in usual manner, this arrangementsaving mechanism and insuring neatness and accuracy. The registeringmechanism for making the web come into proper alinement for receivingthe two patches is provided as a convenient means for permitting onepatch to be applied before the other, instead of requiring them both tobe applied at the same point of travel in the machine. Also by havingone patch applied before the other the subsequent punching of the holeswhen the other patch is applied is less liable to disturb it or preventits being placed correctly, than if both patches were applied at thesame time; and by having the cut-off block also act as a presser forfirmly holding or ironing the patch down upon the web, there is nochance for the patch to become displaced or improperly positioned.

By having the printing mechanism all on one head, not only is themechanism simplified, but I obtain perfect accuracy of alinement, adefinite square impression is obtained by the straight up-and-downmovement, printing in a plurality of colors is made convenient, and theprogress of the formation of the tag is not interrupted or diverted.Likewise'by having all the severing mechanism practically on one head,the same simplicity of mechanism and facility of movement areaccomplished, and it is made extremely convenient to change the speed ofcutting and feeding relatively to the printing, having one speed forprinting in two colors, and double speed for printing in one color.

It will be understood that, as shown, the printing mechanism. isarranged to descend upon four tags at once.

The machine as herein shown is constructed to make two rows of tags atthe same time, and the printing bed or chase is shown as having a doublewidth (9 g) for printing two tags in width. These and other features maybe varied as already intimated.

Further advantages of my invention will be recognized by those skilledin this art; and without attempting to point out all the advantages ofuse and all the modifications and changes included Within my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

mechanism in unison, and means for varying the speed of said operatingmeans of the reinforce-applying mechanism and the severing mechanismwith relation to and in multiples of the impression-movements of saidprinting mechanism, and speed varying means -to maintain the speed ofthe feeding mechanism the same as said speed of the reinforce-applyingmechanism and of the severing mechanism, in accordance with the varyingspeed of the latter, whereby the machine is rendered capable of printingwith one dhase of type each tag in one color only or each tag in aplurality of colors as desired,

2. In a machine of the kind described, mechanism for pushing two stripsof reinforcing material for two reinforces forward into position to beapplied to the opposite sides of a single web, means for simultaneouslycutting directly and entirely across the free ends of said two strips,when fed to position to form the reinforces, means for applying theentire ends thus cut of to the opposite sides of the same web, and meansfor intermittingly feeding forward transversely to said strips saidsingle web of tag material in the intervals between the applications tosaid web of the reinforces.

3. In a machine of the kind described, means for feeding an integraldouble width of web to be formed into two continuous,originally-attached series of tags with their string-receiving endstogether down the middle of the web, means for feeding a strip ofreinforce material transversely to said double width web, means forcutting off the entire projecting free end from the strip and applyingsaid entire end to said web in position to constitute two reinforces,and means for thereafter punching two stringreceiving holes through saidweb and applied reinforce, one for each of the two tags of said doublewidth.

4. In va machine of the kind described, means for'feeding a double widthof web to be formed into two series of tags, means for feeding a stripof reinforce material transversely to said web, means for cutting offthe free end of the strip in the form of an oblong portion, means forapplying and securing said oblong portionto the web to rest on theadjacent ends of opposite tags, and means for thereafter severing saidtags and said reinforce .material thus applied thereto.

5. In a machine of the kind described,

means for feeding a web of paper, means for applying a reinforce to oneside of said web, means for. applying another reinforce to the oppositeside of said web, said two applying means being located apart a distanceleaving a longitudinal stretch of web extending lengthwise from one tothe other, and adjustable means for varying the position of the web withrelation to said two applying means, for insuring that said tworeinforces shall be in proper alinement opposite each other.

6. In a machine of thekind described, means for feeding a web of paperto be formed into successive tags, means for applying to said tags tworeinforces, alined with each other on the opposite sides of said web,mechanism for pushing strips of reinforce material forward to position,and means for simultaneously severing and applying the free ends of saidstrips to constitute such reinforces.

7. In a machine of the kind described, means for feeding a web of paper,means for maintaining a loop in the said web, whereby the top of the webon one side of said loop is the bottom of the loop on the other' side,and means for applying reinforces to said web at opposite portions ofsaid loop and 'on the same side thereof.

8. In a machine of the kind described, means for feeding a web of paper,means for maintaining a loop in the said web, whereby the top of the webon one side of said loop is the bottom of the loop on the other side,means for applying reinforces to said web' at opposite portions of saidloop and on the same side thereof, and means for actuating saidapplyingmeans for applying said reinforces simultaneously.

9. In a machine of the kind described,

.means for feeding a web of paper, means for supplying reinforcingmaterial, means for applying glue to the middle only of said material,feeding means for engaging the edges of said material outside of theglued portion thereof and feeding the same to the web, means forsevering and applying under pressure pieces of said material to saidweb, and means for thereafter punching a plurality of string-receivingholes through each piece and said Web. n

11. In a machine of the kind described, means for feeding a web ofpaper, means for supplying a strip of reinforcing material, means forapplying glue to the middle only of said material, feeding means forengaging the edges of said material outside of the glued portion thereofand feeding the same to the web, and a combined cutter, punch,'andpatch-applier, for severing the end from said strip to constitute areinforce, applying it to the web, and thereafter punching a holethrough both the web and reinforce.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, JOHN P. KUHNS.

Witnesses:

' HARLOW E.' SPRING, MARION V. DE GARENo.

